Nearly a year after Deckers Brands announced its intention to divest Sanuk, the outdoor lifestyle shoe brand has officially been scooped up by Canadian active company Lolë Brands.
Terms of the deal, which closed on Aug. 15, were not disclosed.
According to Todd Steele, chief executive officer of Lolë, when the company heard that Deckers was selling Sanuk, it “jumped” at the opportunity.
“We think there are a lot of common themes between our two brands, from sustainability to creativity to the importance and connection to community,” Steele told FN in an interview. “We also think Sanuk can benefit from our global perspective since a large part of our business is done outside of the U.S.”
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Steele said there is potential to expand Sanuk’s consumer base as well as its core product assortment. The CEO hopes that with renewed investment in the brand, Sanuk’s wholesale partners will discover the brand’s evolution, which includes a nimble and progressive approach to marketplace management and customer service.
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“We’ve got a creative design team in Montreal and San Francisco that are excited to start collaborating on a whole new product category, as we haven’t participated in the footwear market in the past,” Steele added. “The chance to see Sanuk be an innovator in that area is exciting to all of us.”
To help execute this strategy, Lolë brought on Deckers and Sanuk veteran Katie Pruitt as the brand’s new vice president and general manager. Prior to the acquisition, Pruitt served as Sanuk’s brand manager at Deckers since 2022. Other roles she’s held at the company included product director, senior manager of product development innovations and footwear product development manager, among others.
In her new role, Pruitt told FN that she will oversee all strategic planning and execution of operations as well as the brand teams. This includes a focus on evolving the brand strategy and prioritizing direct-to-consumer and wholesale customers to drive innovation and growth.
“I’ve been with Sanuk for over a decade and had a chance to work on many sides of the business,” Pruitt said. “I also had the privilege of working with Sanuk founder Jeff Kelley and some of the other people that have built this brand. I’ve always been really inspired by their passion, and this has prepared me to carry forward their legacy and embrace this new opportunity.”
In the coming months, Pruitt said that Sanuk will relocate its operations and open a new office in Los Angeles, Calif. “We just signed a lease for an office, so we’re hoping to get that up and running in the next month or so,” she told FN.
Under its new owner, Pruitt noted that Sanuk has kept on its sales team to ensure continuity in its wholesale partnerships as well as a few other members that will relocate down to L.A. from the Deckers office. “We are starting to build a team in the L.A. area, and it will be pretty much a whole new team,” Pruitt said. “We are going to rely on Lolë to support us through this transition, but eventually we’ll mostly be operating independently.”
This acquisition marks the second for the privately-held Lolë in the past year, as it expands its portfolio of environmentally conscious consumer brands. In April 2023, the company purchased San Francisco-based sustainable fashion retailer Époque Évolution for an undisclosed sum.
Sanuk (which means “fun” in Thai) was founded in 1997 by entrepreneur Jeff Kelley, whose first product was a sandal made of green indoor-outdoor carpet.
Deckers Brands purchased Sanuk in 2011 for $120 million. In stark contrast to the company’s star Hoka and Ugg labels, Deckers hasn’t been able to turnaround the beleaguered surf shoe brand for quite some time.
In its first quarter earnings report out last month, Deckers noted that Sanuk reported a 28.4 percent drop in net sales to $6.9 million in the period compared to $9.6 million last year. It was also during its July earnings report where the company disclosed it had found a buyer for Sanuk. No other details were provided at the time, but the notice followed the company’s announcement in October that it was seeking to divest the label.
In October, outgoing Deckers chief executive officer Dave Powers told analysts that the decision to divest Sanuk was tough both “emotionally and financially,” but that the brand deserves “a good home” and someone who can “make it a priority” instead of being the fourth and fifth brand in Deckers portfolio. “I think it’s the best thing for the company and the brand to do this,” the exec said at the time.
